CARRIE:Atonement
by scottsman
Summary: Carrie has come to Florida after being released from a psychiatric ward. Now seeking a way to Atone for the innocent people who died the night of the prom, She is drawn the the Town of Atwater by Telepathic contact with a young private investigator with abilites similar to her own and into a race against time to save someone from her past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Agency

Atwater, Florida a small town a few miles south of Orlando, and Headquarters of Phoenix Investigations. That evening about 10 p.m. in the spacious office of the head investigator/ owner and founder of the Agency and young man in his late teens walked wearily through the door. He walked over, dropped his black denim jacket on the desk, and sank down into the chair.

He breathed a weary sigh and switched on the computer in front of him. he put his headset on and began dictating as the computer program typed out what he said.

" _File 173: the Anderson Case. As previously mentioned in this file one Cliff Anderson hired me to locate his late Client Astor Fulbright's missing will. He suspected that one of Fulbright's three would-be heirs had taken it with the express purpose of changing it in order to claim the lion share of the estate. The Estate itself is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred million dollars._

 _Current Status of the Case: The will was located hidden in a false bottom in a suitcase belonging to one Helen Barker the great niece of Astor Fulbright. She however was not the guilty party. Though they, Miss Barker had her two cousins Henry and James Fulbright, have all been pitching a fit about having to share the estate equally, it turns out that Henry was the one who did the actual stealing. He knew that there was the a clause in the will that state what anyone caught meddling with the will in any way shape or form would be immediately cut. Hence the reason he tried to frame his darling cousin. Fortunately he never stopped to consider that he was leaving fingerprints on the will with when he planted it in her secret compartment._

 _The case was concluded on this date by yours truly resulting in Henry being cut out of the will and a nice generous fee for me. Personally I think that instead of willing them equal shares in the estate he should have willed those three brats each a good spanking._

 _Yours Truly,_

 _Jace Pierson."_

Jace had just saved the file and taken the headset off when the door opened and his father Dr. Elias Pierson walked in.

"Hi Dad," said Jason yawning slightly and stretching.

"Case finished, Son," asked his dad. Elias Pierson was physician/ scientist of some renown, however he had never pressured Jace to follow in his footsteps he said,

"Son, I don't care if you want to be a doctor or house painter just so long as you do your best at it."

As his dad sat down in the Chair opposite him Jace replied,

"Yeah it's a closed case all right I just finished my report." Jace yawned and stretched again.

"Son," said his Dad, "I'm very proud of you and the good reputation this agency of yours has, but let me give you some advice. It's time that you hired a partner. You're rapidly getting to the point where you've got more cases than you can handle."

"Dad I've tried to find a partner before, twice! One was a lazy good-for-nothing who ran up my pay per view bill and nearly ate me out of business, and the other one was a walking accident that nearly cost me my liability insurance when he blew a hole in the roof, of my apartment, with a shotgun, ruining my satellite dish as well as my new carpet with the rain started pouring in."

"Okay, Okay," Said his Dad, "So the first two were wash outs!"

"Please, don't say wash out!" Said Jace cringing as he remembered the wet carpet.

"Sorry, Bad choice of words," replied his father, "As I was saying don't let two Darwin award rejects stop you from looking!"

"I'll keep trying, Dad," Jace Replied, "But in the morning, I'm tired and I think I'll turn in for the night."

"Good idea," said his dad getting up to leave, "I'll see you in the morning." After seeing his dad out with instructions to 'kiss mom for me' he turned, grabbed his jacket and walked into the elevator and punched the button for the top floor. That was one floor above his office and was where his penthouse was located.

A surprise inheritance, from a Great Uncle that had passed two years earlier, left Jace the owner of this building and a plenty of money to live on.

Jace stifled a yawn as he stepped off the elevator into the spacious penthouse. Stripping off his clothes and throwing them in the hamper he headed for the shower. He stood in the shower letting the warm water cascade over him. Just as he was feeling good and relaxed, it happened again. He flashed to a vision. He was seeing through someone else's eyes! He looked down and saw that whoever this vision was about was obviously a girl she was wearing some sort of gown but the strange thing was it appeared to be covered in blood!

A split second later there was scream that he was sure would deafen his eardrums and everyone he could see was thrown backwards. There was another flash of white light and he was back in his shower again.

Jace when on with his shower after coming to his senses, but his mind was racing, he had no Idea who the girl in the bloody dress, and who's eyes he saw through was, but he recognized what he had seen happen. This girl had unleashed a telekinetic shockwave!

"Why am I seeing this?" he wondered. He was brought out of his musings when he realized that he didn't have any shampoo. The bottle he had just picked up was empty. There was another bottle in the bathroom cabinet. He visualized it and the cabinet door swung open and the bottle of shampoo floated out of the cabinet up over the shower door and into Jace's hand.

Jace finished his shower and grabbing a towel began to dry off. All the time he was debating whether or not to tell his dad about the visions.

"After all," he mused to himself, "This is the second time in two days I've had that vision."

He pictured the vision in his mind's eye again, seeing the bloody dress and shockwave again. He shook his head and spoke in a soft voice to girl in his vision.

"Who are you, you poor soul?!"


	2. Chapter 2

CARRIE: Atonement 2

Chapter 2

A Lone figure in a grey hoodie walked down a side road toward a busy truck stop on the outskirts of Atwater. Her thoughts were in turmoil, as were the few strands of blonde hair that stuck out from under the hood and whipped about in the breeze. On the one hand Carrie was thankful to be free after being at the Glendale psychiatric ward for a year, on the other hand the eighteen year old wasn't sure that she should be. She was head toward Atwater because for last two nights she had been aware that someone in this area had been somehow reliving her memories with her in her dreams she had felt him there watching. She didn't feel that he was a threat oddly enough more like a friend calling out to her.

At present her thoughts were the day that the kindly Dr. Cathy Weller, a tall dark haired lady, with soft grey eyes had come into her room and told her that the President of the united states himself had gotten wind of her story and after thoroughly researching everything about what had happened and why it happened had issued a full pardon for her on the condition that she completed her treatment at Glendale.

Carrie had not been sure what to think of Dr. Weller at first. Especially the first time she was brought in for a session by the orderly. Dr. Weller had been reading the bible on her desk when Carrie was shoved roughly through the door by the orderly. Dr. Weller jumped up and got in the orderly's face and told them that if she ever saw that again she would have him fired. The she ordered him out of the room with a look that dared him to argue with her.

After he was gone she sat down in front of Carrie took both of Carrie's hand hers and smiled at the girl.

"I'm here to listen to tell me whatever you feel like you can!" over the next few days as Carrie began to feel more and more at ease with Dr. Weller she began open up more and more about the extent of her life and everything she had been through. The abuse from her mother, the torment at school the cruel pranks and finally the one that led to the Black Prom Massacre.

It was during the first discussion of the black prom that Carrie noticed a picture of a smiling 17 year old boy on Dr Weller's desk and pinned to the frame was a black ribbon. Carrie's breath caught in her throat and ice filled her lungs.

"Who is that?" She asked in a small voice.

Dr. Weller turned and looked at the picture. She gave a sad smile.

"That's my nephew Mark," she said, "I raised after his parents, my brother and sister in-law died in a plane crash when he was three. They had left him with me while they went on a second honeymoon. He was the closest thing to a son of my own that I ever had."

"The black ribbon," said Carrie almost afraid to asked, "What happened to him."

"He died at the black prom," Dr. Weller said quietly

Carrie began sobbing. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to rock back and forth. Tears streamed down her face and onto the wooden floor of the office.

"You must hate me." She choked out. Dr. Weller sat down in front of Carrie and placed her hands on Carrie's shoulders.

"Carrie look at me," she pleaded. Finally Carrie looked up and theirs met.

"I don't hate you," she said, "I never did." Carrie gasped in wonder as she looked into the older woman's eyes. In her mind there was some sadness, but no hatred, not even anger, and there was something else too something that Carrie certainly never expected, forgiveness!

"You've forgiven me?!" she gasped in wonder.

"Yes I have," said Dr. Weller, "Because that's what God and Mark would want me to do. I don't blame you for what you did, you were tormented beyond what any human being could mentally and physically withstand. it made you sick. And Carrie regardless of what your mother told you, God doesn't hate you either, he loves you and he never stopped because He is the personification and source of love, life, and forgiveness."

At these words something inside of Carrie White changed forever. It was like she could see clearly for the first time in her life. This woman not her mother was a true example of a Godly woman. Carrie could do nothing but throw her arms around her, cling to her and weep fresh tears. Dr. Weller held the girl and stroked her hair gently until the sobs stopped.

Now she was free. To her surprise very few people in Chamberlain begrudged her, her freedom. It seemed that for first time in history an entire town was ashamed of itself. John Hargenson opposed her release at first until the evidence of what Chris had done was brought to light and the resulting embarrassment quieted him down quickly. Still to make things easier on everybody Carrie had elected to leave town.

All she had to her name was a change of clothes in her backpack, 2,000 dollars from her mother's bank account and the Bible and 50.00 dollars that Dr. Weller had given her. Even in her uncertainty about whether she should really be free, she was much more at peace with herself than she ever thought possible. This included her telekinesis, as Dr. Weller said, it was an ability. and an ability is not inherently good or evil it's how you use it. She glanced down at Jeans as she approached the truck stop. Hopefully this one had a place where she could wash her clothes. The ironic thing about the hoodie she was wearing was that the hood itself had a blood red inner lining. She discovered that with her telekinesis that she could cause the particles of red light to vibrate around her face giving herself an eerie otherworldly appearance that was usually enough to intimidate anyone who tried to cause her trouble. Her telekinetic ability to levitate, which she used mostly at night allowed to cover exponentially greater distances that anyone else on foot could. Oh she could have bought a plane ticket to Florida, but since she still didn't fully trust John Hargenson not to cause trouble she decided not to make it that easy for him to track her.

She adjusted her hood and stepped inside the truck stop. He made her way among the shelves until she found what she wanted. She selected an apple, bottle of water and a Snickers bar. After she made her purchases she left the truck stop and started across the parking lot toward the road to Atwater. She was about halfway across in the darkest part of the lot when she came upon a heated argument between a burly red haired man and a wiry woman with dreadlocks.

"You're violating a restraining order," the woman snapped, "Now get away from me."

"I not going to let you marry that guy," the man snapped grabbing he arm

"You can't stop me," the woman snapped back, she pulled out her phone, "now get out of here before I call the cops."

The man flew into a rage, grabbed her arm, twisted the phone out of her grasp and threw it away Then he produced a switchblade knife. He raised the knife to strike when before the woman could scream three eight inch glass shards shot out the shadows and pierce his hand his wrist and his forearm. The man screamed in pain and dropped to his knees holding his now bloody arm.

The woman looked up wide eyed to see Carrie stepping out of the shadows.

"Go," said Carrie, "Find your phone and call the police." The woman nodded and went find her phone. Carrie turned to face the man putting on her eerie red face effect as she turned.

"I want you to remember something when you get out of jail," she said, "And that is to stay away from that woman, because you won't enjoy seeing me again." Carrie put her hand on one of the glass shards and gave it a twist to accent her warning. Then she turned and walked away into the shadows.

 **TBC**

 _Let me know what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

CARRIE: Atonement 3

Chapter 3

Jace sat in his apartment, on the couch, with his morning coffee. He was still thinking about the vision last night as he turned on his TV and absent mindedly flipped through the channels. Suddenly a particular news story on the local channel caught his attention.

The news reporter on the screen a young woman with black hair was standing in what appeared to be a parking lot. Next to her stood a slightly older woman with dreadlocks. The reporter was speaking:

" _ **I'm here at the Conover Truck Stop just outside Orlando. Last night this parking lot was the scene of a strange story. It seems that this woman, Lena Walcott, was being harassed last night by a violent ex boyfriend who had violated a restraining order and tried to attack her with a knife. He was stopped with a mysterious young woman in a hood apparently threw three long narrow glass shards through his hand, wrist, and arm." The reporter paused and turned to the lady**_

" _ **Is that right, Ms. Walcott?"**_

" _ **Yes," said Miss Walcott, "I didn't even know the girl was there until those glass shards came flying out of the shadows! Then she spoke to me and told me to find my phone, which he had taken away, and call the cops. I went to do what she said and when I got back she was gone. I don't know who she was, it was dark and her face was partially hidden by the hood she was wearing, but I remember she had the most intense eyes."**_

 _ **The Reporter turned to the camera and continued.**_

" _ **The suspect, a man named Jake Walters, was taken to Orlando General hospital, the man was heard to say that this girl's face glowed red and she turned on him and warned him to stay away from Ms. Walcott or else. Jake Walters has a longing history of Alcohol abuse and violence. This time he faces charges of Violating a restraining order and attempted murder. The doctors say that the young woman's accuracy was amazing. The man's median nerve was severed but no major blood vessels were hit by any of the shards.**_

 _ **As of yet there is still no word on the identity of this hooded heroine."**_

Jace switched off the TV as the reporter said 'back to you'. He was lost in thought.

"To achieve that kind of accuracy you'd have to be either the world's greatest knife thrower or a telekinetic! I wonder!"

########

Carrie had made it into Atwater early that morning, after grabbing a little sleep in a bus station storage room. She now sat in the coin laundry across the street from the Phoenix Investigations Building. She had changed into her second set of clothes and was waiting for the others to dry. As she sat there watching the dryer spin around and around, the motion soon lulled her to sleep again. This time she dreamt. It was the same nightmare she'd been having for days; she was reliving the black prom all over again!

Across the street Jace was just standing up to down stairs and open the office when he suddenly he flashed to a vision. It was the same one he had in the shower the night before. Only this time it was much stronger this time he was able to more detail including the reflection of the girls face in the eyes of a teacher who seemed to be trying to help her. Jace knew what was coming next in the vision so he decided before he snapped out of it this time, to try and communicate with the owner of these memories. He decided to make it something simple. He concentrated on the phoenix symbol on top of the sign over the front entrance of the building. He hoped to make it appear the vision somehow, to plant it in the mind of the owner of these memories. it worked or so it seemed the phoenix symbol appeared on the wall opposite where this girl appear to be standing when she unleashed the telekinetic shockwave.

Carrie jolted awake and sat up with an almost wild look in her eyes. "What had been that symbol that had appeared on the wall in her dream? It wasn't there the night of the black prom!" Then it hit her. That presence she had felt in her dreams must be trying to communicate with her

She sat there racking her brain trying figure what that symbol was supposed to tell her. suddenly she was jarred out of her thoughts by the loud buzzing of the alarm on the dryer. She stood up and was moving across the aisle from the sitting area when she stopped short. She turned and looked out the glass doors at the building across the street. There on the plaque above the front doors was the bird symbol she had seen!

She was standing there gazing at it when suddenly she received a telepathic picture of a man in a ski mask throwing a knife at the back of her neck. The man was startled when the knife stopped in mid air just an inch from its target. Carrie turned slowly around to face her attacker. Her eyes went black and the knife flipped around, shot through the air and slammed into the guy shoulder up to the hilt!

The man stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Just as Carrie took a step forward she was blindside by a sock in the jaw by another masked man. She was so focused on dealing with the knife thrower that she hadn't notice the other man flanking her. Carrie hit the floor dazed. The man who hit her stood over her with a sadistic grin on his face and a set of brass knuckles in his hand.

"Hey," snapped his partner, "Will you get on with it, before she uses that Tele-Crap on us again!"

"The man that hired is wanted her to suffer remember," the other man retorted. Carrie fought desperately to clear her head so she could use her telekinesis again. The man standing over her pulled out a small caliber hand gun and aimed at one of Carries legs. But just as he was pulling the trigger there was a flash of white light behind Carrie and the gun exploded. The man screamed in pain and dropped the floor holding his mangled hand. Carrie's head cleared. She turned and saw a young man in black denim and a red shirt standing in the doorway with an outstretched hand. Traces of a pinpoint of light, between his thumb and his other fingers, was fading away.

The other man, who had just pulled the knife out of his shoulder, was momentarily stunned by this turn of events. Then he recovered and made a grab for his own gun. Carrie saw it and reacted. She grabbed the man, by the throat, with her power, as his gun came out of his belt, and with a sharp flick of her arm slammed his head into a dryer window hard enough to crack and bloody the glass. He slumped to the ground unconscious.

Carrie turned to see the young man advancing on the man with the wounded arm. She was impressed when the young man grabbed the thug and lifted him off the ground with one arm.

"All right slime-ball," he growled ripping the guy's ski mask off, "you have five seconds to tell me who hired you two to torture and kill this girl!"

Before the man could answer, Jace suddenly said,

"Thank you. You just told me," and dropped kicked him against the opposite wall. After the man slumped to the floor unconscious the young man walked over to him, pulled something out of the man's pocket and fiddled with it for a moment. Then the young man tuned to Carrie.

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Yeah," she replied, "that guy just surprised me." Carrie grabbed her clothes and backpack and she and Jace hurried outside.

"By the way," he said, "I'm Jace Pierson, Phoenix investigations."

"I know," said Carrie, "I'm Carrie White."

"So you're not just a subconscious telepath." Carrie shook her head. Jace pulled out his Phone and dialed a number.

"Hi," he said into the phone, "Put detective Jackson on the phone."

There was a pause.

"Hi, Steve," he said, "Jace here, Are you still interested in catching those sadist Morton Brothers?"

"Those sickos absolutely!" came the reply

"Well in that case you'd better get some men over to the Quick Coin Laundromat before they wake up." with that Jace hung up.

"I know you found out who hired those men," said Carrie, as they started across the street to Jace's office, "Who was it?"

"Does the name John Hargenson mean anything to you?"

TBC …..

 _ **Please tell me what you think**_


	4. Chapter 4

CARRIE 4

CARRIE: Atonement

Chapter 4

At the name John Hargenson, Carrie groaned. So he was the one that sent those goons after her. Now Carrie saw where Chris got her pathological inability to take responsibility for her actions, not to mention her sociopathic tendency to blame everyone else for what went wrong in her life.

"I should've known," she muttered shaking her head.

"So you do know him." said Jace as he held the door for her and they entered the Phoenix building.

"Not personally," said Carrie, "But yeah I know who he is and why he wants me dead."

"Does it have something to do with what is saw you do in the visions I've had?"

"I thought you were the one that's been sharing my dreams with me," said Carrie

"Yeah," said Jace, "it was me but I assure It wasn't intentional my brain the way it is, acts like a scanner for other brain waves."

"It's okay," said Carrie, "I think we were called together for a reason. And to answer your question yes it does have something to do with what you saw."

When they reached the top floor of the building they walked off Jace's private elevator and into the penthouse.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Jace said with a little bow.

"Thank you," said Carrie blushing a little, "You have a very nice place."

"Thank you," said Jace

"How could you afford a place like this in Florida of all places?" she asked looking around and the spacious three bedroom apartment.

"An inheritance," said Jace dismissively, trying to change the subject, "The more important matter is this John Hargenson, who is he and why is he trying to kill you?!"

Carrie sat down on the couch, took a deep breath and began to tell her story. She told Jace about her abusive, mentally unstable religious nut of a mother. She told how she was also tormented at school. Finally she told the tale of the locker room shower incident, the punishment for the girls, and John Hargenson's Daughter Chris what she pulled at the prom and the resulting massacre which came to be known as the Black Prom. She spoke of her treatment under Dr. Weller in Glenwood and her subsequent pardon and release.

When she had finished her story, Jace shook his head in disbelief.

"You pour soul," he said, "So, John Hargenson wants you dead because_,"

"I killed his daughter in my insane telekinetic rage," said Carrie hanging her had, "I had been tormented all my life and finally when that bucket of blood was dumped on me I snapped and went completely insane. I killed a lot of people that night, some it could be argued, deserved it, but I'm sure there were a lot who didn't and that's what I want to atone for, the innocent ones."

"Let me guess," John Hargenson, "Wasn't too happy about the pardon."

"That's putting it mildly," said Carrie, "He knew about the Presidents pardon almost as soon as I did. Being a lawyer with political ambitions he must have friends in Washington. He came storming into Glenwood right in the middle of one of my sessions with Dr. Weller. He came blasting into her office nearly bowling her secretary over.

(Flashback)

John Hargenson came barreling through the door of Dr. Weller's office, despite the look protestations of Weller's secretary. Weller was sitting on the couch listening to something Carrie was saying when the door slammed against the wall causing her to look up. when she saw John Hargenson standing their her face darkened to a scowl.

"Are you out of your mind busting in here like that!" she snapped. Hargenson ignored her indignation.

"It this some kind of sick joke." He seethed holding up a piece of paper in his hand. The paper was memo about the Carrie white pardon that was circulating in the Capitol building. Dr. Weller walked over and calmly examined the paper.

"No I assure it's no joke," She said, "in three days Carrie White will be finished with her treatment, at which time she will be released and free to come and go as she pleases."

(End Flashback)

"Good Grief," said Jace, "He was upset,"

"Yeah," said Carrie, "he was so mad that he actually made a lunge for me. Before I could react Dr. Weller jumped between us and told him that if he didn't get out of her office right then she'd have orderlies put him in a straight jacket and throw him in the padded cell. He left without another word but with one last dirty look."

The day I was released somebody succeeded in restoring the memory chip from Chris's cell phone it proved everything Chris had done. I thought that all that had embarrassed him enough to leave me alone.

I forgot that he's a Hargenson. They never take responsibility for anything."

Jace nodded in understanding.

"Well, "He said Reaching in to his pocket and pulling out his phone, "I think I found something, on that guy's phone, that may get Hargenson off your back once and for all."

Jace punched up a video, obviously made without Hargenson's knowledge, that showed him meeting with the Morton brothers.

He passed them and envelope under the table of the booth they were sitting in.

"You get half the money up front," he said, "the other half when Carrie White is dead, and make her suffer!"

"They probably made this, for leverage, Just in Case Hargenson tried to double cross them." Jace Said

"Well now it's going to give us leverage." He added

Just then Carrie's stomach let out a loud growl. Jace chuckled and Carrie blushed.

"I'm guessing you're hungry." He said

"Famished," replied Carrie.

"Say no more," said Jace, "Breakfast coming up." Jace took Carrie by the hand and let her into the kitchen. There was already a waffle iron heating on the counter. Jace took pitcher of batter out of the refrigerator and poured some into the hot iron. There was sizzling sound as the batter met the hot metal.

"Hey," said Carrie, as Jace closed the lid on the iron, "How did you know I was in trouble down there? Our little telepathic connection only seems to happen when I'm asleep."

"My telepathy, Like yours can also act as a sixth sense, a warning signal if you will, just like yours warned you of that knife that was being thrown at your head. I got a mental flash of you in trouble. When I got outside and saw the Morton brothers Van in the laundry parking lot I knew where to go." replied Jace.

Jace looked at his watch then picked up his Land line phone

"While that's cooking I've got a phone call to make." He punched in some numbers and waiting.

"Hello, Chamberlain information, I would like the number for one John Hargenson Attorney at law. 555-8775, thank you." Jace hung up the phone and dialed again.

This time with the call was picked up his demeanor changed.

"Hargenson," he growled, "Don't talk just listen." Jace Played the recording of Hargenson's secret meeting with those to thugs."

"Now hear this," growled Jace his voice low and threatening, "if Carrie White ever again so much as stubs her toe under mysterious circumstances, this recording will be given to your district attorney and then distributed to every newspaper east of the Mississippi got it, good!"

TBC…..

 _ **Tell me what you think.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Carrie5

Chapter 5

John Hargenson sat at his desk in stunned silence. That phone call had just backed him into a corner. Whoever that was, he obviously knew Carrie and he had somehow found out about his meeting with the Morton Brothers. Well the only thing he could do was lay low, for now.

Back in Atwater Carrie and Jace were finishing their breakfast. Carrie had been hungry alright. She had finished off and entire Belgian Waffle topped with strawberries and cream. Jace had peanut butter and bananas on his.

The first few minutes of their breakfast was spent in silence. It was not an uncomfortable silence though. It was actually one of the few times in her life that Carrie felt safe and accepted. Finally, Carrie spoke.

"You said this place is called Phoenix investigations, does that mean that you're a private eye."

Jace nodded,

"Yeah," he said, "I guess you could say that I'm sort of a whiz kid. I graduated from college when I was 15 with a degree in criminology. I decided that Private detective work was what I wanted to do because I have always like the challenge of figuring things out."

Carrie nodded in understanding.

"I never really had a chance to discover what I like before." She said quietly. Jace felt his heart ache for the girl.

"I suppose not," he said, "well, all that has changed now." After they finished their meal, Jace put the plates in the dishwasher and started it up. Then after a little personal hygiene he told Carrie that he was going downstairs to open the office for business.

He opened the office and sat down behind the desk. He was in the middle of wading through his morning emails when Carrie walked into the office.

"do you have any cases today?" she asked

"Just some prospects." Replied Jace, "They'll only become cases if I decide to take them."

"I heard that private eyes spend most of their time tailing cheating spouses and significant others."

"Well there is that," said Jace, "but I don't really work a lot of those. I'm picky like that. Most of my cases involve theft, embezzlement, insurance fraud and there have even been a few murders and the odd missing person case."

"Oh, I see," said Carrie

"Hmm," said Jace as he opened one particular Email, "this prospect looks intriguing."

"What is it?" she asked.

"it appears to be a missing persons case," said Jace, "This lady has come to me because the police are at a stalemate."

"Whose Missing?" asked Carrie

"According to this, her daughter," he replied, "she, her daughter and granddaughter have been here in Orlando visiting her younger sister for the last couple of months. Apparently, she's thinking of moving down here, but that's beside the point, while she was here her daughter got involved with some kind of psychic advisor and then disappeared."

"What's her name?" she asked

"Eleanor Snell."

"Eleanor Snell!" exclaimed Carrie, rushing around the desk to look at the screen, "Then it's Sue Snell her daughter that's missing!"

"Someone you know," Asked Jace looking up from his screen.

"Yeah," said Carrie, "She was about the only person outside the school Gym teacher Miss Desjardin who ever tried to make up for the way that I was tormented at school. Her boyfriend Tommy was the one that invited me to go to the prom."

A look of realization flashed on to Jace's face.

"Was he the one I saw on the ground at your feet in the dreamscape?" he said. Carrie nodded sadly

"After they dumped the bucket of pig blood on me, the Bucket fell and hit tommy in the head killing him," she said, "it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back."

There was a moment of silence before Carrie spoke again.

"Jace," she said resolutely, "I want you to help Mrs. Snell, Sue's not a bad person she just made a mistake. Besides she has a baby daughter who doesn't deserve to lose her mother if it can be helped."

"All right," said Jace nodding, "I'll send her a message and let her know that we'll take the case."

"We?!" she said. Jace looked up at Carrie and smiled

"Well I figured you intended to tag along anyway and My dad has been hounding me to hire a partner. So, the job's yours if you're interested?" Carrie broke into a big smile and threw her arms around Jace. Though surprised, Jace gently put his arms around her accepting the hug.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said with a chuckle. Carrie let go and jumped back blushing bright red.

"Sorry," she stammered looking at her feet. Jace stood up put his finger under her chin and gently lifted her head until their eyes met again.

"there's no reason to apologize." He said, "Hugs are a good thing."

A few minutes later a reply came back from Eleanor Snell with profuse thanks and directions to her sister's house. Jace and Carrie took the elevator down into the garage. There they found Jace's Car a bright red new model Camaro. They climbed into the car and started off. About twenty minutes later they arrived at the address they had been given.

They got out of the car and walked up to a two story Mediterranean style house. Before they could knock on the door, it was flung open.

"Thank you so much for coming," said a middle-aged woman with blonde hair. Carrie couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Sue and her mother.

"I'm Jace Pierson, Mrs. Snell," he said, he motioned to Carrie, "this is my partner Carrie White."

Eleanor Snell's eyebrows went up at the sound of the name. she peered at Carrie for a moment. Carrie decided to bite the bullet.

"Yes, Mrs. Snell," she said, "I'm That Carrie White. I'm here because I want to help you and Sue if I can. She was one of the only people in Chamberlain who ever tried to be nice to me. Even if it didn't work out so well."

Carrie added that last part with a hint of sadness in her voice. Eleanor stepped toward Carrie and raised her hand. Carrie cringed not knowing what to expect. To her surprise Mrs. Snell simply laid her hand on Carrie's cheek gently.

"Thank you, Carrie." She said. Jace let out a breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding.

Mrs. Snell invited them in and they sat down in the living room. Just as Mrs. Snell settled in across from them the silence was broken by a loud baby's cry.

"excuse me," she said, "I have to feed Little Carrie."

Carrie was sure that her mouth was hanging open.

"She named her baby after me?!" she blurted out when Mrs. Snell returned a few minutes later. Mrs. Snell smiled and nodded.

"Sue has always deeply regretted the way you were treated and that she was ever a part of it. Naming her daughter after you was her way of trying to make amends for everything."

"Mrs. Snell," Said Jace, "You said in your message that Sue was involved with some kind of so called spiritual advisor before she disappeared?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Snell, "She said that he was called Avano The Celestial Messenger, before she disappeared she told that he could do amazing things and he would give his followers great insights into themselves. She seemed totally in awe of this man. The afternoon before she disappeared two days ago, However, her demeanor toward him had changed. She seemed angry when she talked about him. She left for his meeting that night and I haven't seen her since."

"May we see her room," asked Jace. Eleanor Snell nodded and led them down the hall to the room that Sue had been using. Jace and Carrie walked into the room and began to look around.

"What are we looking for?" Asked Carrie

"Well like the old Cliché says, I'm hoping I'll know it when I see it." Replied Jace.

Carrie crossed the room and opened the closet door.

"Hey Jace," she said, "Take a look at this." Jace walked over to stand by Carrie. On the back of the closet door was a large poster of a young man who looked like a cross between Michael Jackson and Prince. The man was sitting on what looked like a throne draped in a dark cloak. He sat there with his fingertips together. The most interesting part of the poster was the slash mark across his throat.

"That's Avano." Said Mrs. Snell Coming to see what they were looking at."

"Judging from that slash mark across his throat she was definitely angry and or disillusioned with him."

Carrie took a step forward and place her hand on the slash mark. Instantly she heard the beat of a heart in her ears. She placed a hand on Jace's shoulder and instantly he could hear it too.

"Jace," she said, "She's still alive!"

 _ **TBC**_ … _ **Please read and Review**_


	6. Chapter 6

Carrie 6

Chapter 6

Jace and Carrie Left the Snell's place and headed for the 12th precinct. A few minutes later Carrie was seated in one of the chairs by Detective Jacksons desk while Jace stood next to her. Steve Jackson, a tall African American man in a suit and tie, with broad shoulders and currently wearing a serious expression came back to his desk.

He handed Jace some photocopies of a file on Avano and his followers. There were people of all shapes and sizes in pictures in the file. The largest group of them were dressed as goths.

"That's everything I could get on the Snell case without getting caught by Detective Halleck." He said

"Halleck," said Jace thoughtfully, "Isn't he the one who wears that rumpled trench coat and suit and hates my guts?"

"That's him." Said Steve, "Try to avoid him if you can on the way out."

"What did I ever do to him anyway?" said Jace

"He's egotistical and Every time you come in here and manage to solve one of his stalled cases you make him look stupid in front of the captain." Replied Steve, "So whatever you do don't let him catch with those photostats."

Jace nodded, and he and Carrie made there way out of the precinct careful to avoid Halleck.

#########

Carrie straightened up and looked at herself in the Mirror. She now had on white face makeup, streaked hair, and bright red lipstick. She was dressed in a red and black lace corset dress and she had a studded collar around her neck.

There was knock on the bathroom door.

"Come in," she said. The door opened and Jace walked in. he had dyed blonde streaks into his own hair and had on similar makeup.

"Are you sure that I look alright." she said

"Definitely," said Jace, "in fact I would say that you are easily one of the prettiest goths I've ever seen."

Carrie blushed right through her white face makeup.

"Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"Because most of the people in those photos were goths," said Jace, "So this will probably our best bet to get into Avano's sanctum unnoticed."

They both stepped into the elevator and took it down to the Garage.

"Carrie," he said, "For this job I think we need to take my other car." He led her over to a black Ferrari 488, "This car was part of the inheritance," he explained, as he opened the passenger door for him, "But I only use it when I need to look wealthy."

"You think Sue's disappearance is about money?" asked Carrie as Jace climbed into the driver's seat.

"I do," said Jace

"But Sue doesn't have any money," said Carrie, "at least none that I know of."

"But you saw her aunt's house," said Jace, "I looked up some stats on it while you were getting ready it's A five-bedroom, four Bathroom Mediterranean Style house with an in-ground pool in the back in Florida. That runs into the six figures easy around here."

"I get it," said Carrie, "you think that Avano sucked her in to get to her aunt." Jace nodded

"I did some checking on the aunt and I found out that she runs her own real estate business and has a net worth of 10 to 15 Million dollars."

A few minutes later Jace and Carrie pulled into the parking lot outside the three-story building that served as Avano's meeting place. Jace hopped out and walked around the car to open Carrie's door. She smiled at him as she climbed out.

They turned and walked toward the building. Just after they stepped inside through the double door, Carrie noticed that a lot of the guys they were passing in the hallway were staring.

"Jace," she whispered, "everybody's staring at us, do you think they suspect?" she was surprised when Jace chuckled.

"Carrie," he said, "They're not starting at us they're staring at you."

"What, Why," she asked.

"I told you," he said, "You're Beautiful." Carrie blushed again. When they got within sight the door to the auditorium where Avano held his meetings, they realized they had a problem. All the others that approached the door had an invitation card. They showed it to the 6-foot 7-inch hulk that was guarding the door.

"Well this could be a problem," muttered Jace, "I didn't count on needing an invitation."

"Jace," said Carrie, "I can see in his mind that there are more of those cards in office 343 one floor up."

Jace and Carrie slipped back into the elevator and pressed the button for the next floor. When the doors opened they slowly and cautiously walked down the hall. Half way down the hallway they found 243 hidden back in a small alcove. Jace tried the door.

"It's locked." He said

"No problem," said Carrie, her pupils dilated. She looked at the lock and there was an audible click as the door unlocked.

Jace opened the door. there across the room from the doorway on the table next to the copy machine were the remaining invitation cards. With a look two cards shot across the room into his hand. He handed one to Carrie. When they got back down stairs they got into the auditorium without any trouble.

Avano's followers were all seated in several ways. Some sat in the chairs, some where draped over the chairs and some were sitting on the floor. They were all chatting as they waited for Avano to appear. Carrie moved closer to Jace. This place was making her very nervous. She almost jumped when Jace put his arm around her, but she was actually grateful for the simple gesture.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the in the next instant in a flash of fire Avano appeared seated on his "Throne".

"Welcome, My Children," he said in an eerie voice, "Today I have come to bring you council from the great beyond."

The rest of the meeting consisted of Avano giving advice and demonstrating his so-called clairvoyant powers by telling people about themselves about themselves things they didn't know how he could possibly know.

Carrie spoke to Jace telepathically,

 _"He puts on quite a show."_

 _"_ _ **Yeah, but that's all it is a show."**_ Replied Jace, _**"So far I haven't seen him do anything that a decent stage magician couldn't do."**_

A few minutes later the meeting was over. Carrie and Jace began to mingle among the visitors that hung around the building. Carrie glanced at the different people as she and Jace strolled around arm in arm. suddenly her gaze rested on a girl standing in the corner with a couple of other girls. She had red streaks in her black hair. She was wearing a black corset dress and platform boots. Unlike the others she was looking around a little uneasily.

Carrie's eyes widened as she perceived something. She tightened her grip on Jace's arm.

"I know," said Jace, "I see it too. She knew Sue."

"We should talk to her." Said Carrie. Jace nodded in agreement. They worked their way through the crowd of people and over to her.

She looked up when they approached her.

"Hello," said Carrie with a smile.

"uh Hello," said the girl, "A little warily."

"Don't be afraid of us," said Carrie, "And don't ask us how we know, but we have a mutual friend, Sue Snell."

"You know Sue," she said lowering her voice.

Carrie nodded.

"We're looking for her." Said Jace quietly. The girl looked around first before saying anything else. I seemed she wanted to make sure that no one else was listening.

"My name is Josie Squires," she said, "But everyone around here as a name that Avano gives them. He gave me the name Raven and he gave Sue the name Dove, so that's the name that most everyone around here would know her by."

"I see," said Jace, "I get the feeling you two were pretty good friends" Josie nodded

"When she came here I could tell that something in her past was haunting her. It took a while before she opened up about it. Apparently, she's from that town in Maine where the so call black prom took place."

"She must have lost friends at the black prom," said Jace as he felt Carrie's arm tense up again.

"Well, yes she did," said Josie, "But she said it wasn't there deaths that haunted her. Get this, she says that the who disaster was caused by a girl with Psychokinetic powers, that this girl was tormented at home and at school. Sue said an incredibly cruel prank was played on her at the prom and the girl went Insane, unleashed her powers and caused that entire tragedy. She also said that up until then this girl had been a kind and gentle soul who had never harmed anyone.

She was deeply ashamed that she had ever been part of this girl's tormentors and was always haunted by her own actions."

"And that's why she got involved with Avano?" asked Jace. Josie nodded

"She was searching for away to make amends for past mistakes," said Josie, "She was even given the job of being Avano's secretary, and working in his office on the top floor, But I saw her not long before she disappeared, and she was very angry about something she had discovered. She said that Avano wasn't what he appeared to be and as soon as she could get her hands on the evidence she was going to prove it."

"And that was the last time you saw her?" asked Carrie. Josie just nodded.

"Thanks," said Carrie.

"I was still hanging around this place trying to find out anything that could tell me what happened to Sue but Avano and his 'Council' are being very tight lipped about the whole thing." Josie

"That gives me a bad feeling," said Jace. Carrie nodded gravely.

"Thanks, Josie," said Jace, "Now take my advice. Get out of this place and never come near Avano again."

Josie didn't need to be told twice she turned and left but not before she gave Jace and Carrie her number, so they could call her when they knew anything.

Jace and Carrie turned toward the rest of the room. Avano had already retired to his office. Jace and Carrie decided to try a direct strategy for the next part of their investigation. They stepped into the elevator and took it up to the top floor.

They walked down the hallway until they came to Avano's private office and rooms. They were stopped at the door by the same hulk they had seen downstairs earlier.

"Sorry no visitors," he said, "Avano is currently communing with the cosmos and cannot be disturbed."

"Not even to talk about Dove," said Carrie. The man gave a start at the mention of the name.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You heard her," snapped Jace, "This concerns the disappearance of and possible foul play to a girl he called Dove, his secretary."

"Now," said Carrie, "You go and tell Avano for his own good he'd better get his head out of the cosmos and back down to earth right now."

 _ **TBC…. Please Read and Review**_


	7. Chapter 7

Carrie 7

Chapter 7

If Avano was nervous as Jace as Carrie walked into the room, he hid it well. He sat there behind his carved oak desk with his fingertips together in a very judicial manner. Jace glanced around the room. Except for the incense burning in the sensor on the table in the corner. And a set of crystals arranged in the corners of the room it looked like and ordinary office. There were three large windows behind Avano, and oddly enough the center one looked cleaner than the other two.

"I have been told that you wish to discuss Dove," he said.

"She's a friend of ours," said Jace, "We're trying to find her." Said Jace

"Alas she has departed for parts unknown even to me," he said, "I believe she had a crisis of faith."

Avano looked pain and even shed a tear for effect.

"If only she had stayed," he sighed, "I could have counseled her."

Jace and Carrie both fought the urge to roll their eyes.

"Did she give you any clue as to where her crisis of faith might take her?" asked Carrie. Jace was impressed. She was already sounding like an investigator.

"I regret no," he said, "an I have not been able to contact her on the Astral plane either."

"When was the last time you saw her?" asked Jace

"I recall it being the day before she disappeared." He replied in a tone that made Jace and Carrie suspect that they weren't going to get anything else out of him.

"Well thank you for your time, sir." Said Carrie.

"You're welcome fair one," he said, eyeing her up and down, "Please feel free to come back here anytime."

Carrie's face remained polite as Jace offered his arm to her. She took his arm with a firmer grip than she meant to. When Jace told her she was pretty, it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. This guy made her skin crawl.

Jace shook hands with Avano and immediately he saw the telepathic flash of a window shattering in the dark as a shadowy form went through it. As quickly as it appeared the image was gone.

Jace and Carrie turned and walked out of the office and headed down the hall. They exchanged a look that told Jace that Carrie had seen the telepathic flash too.

"Well we know one thing," she said, "Avano is not a grieving spiritual advisor, he's a liar."

"Oh yeah," said Jace, as they stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor, "He definitely knew more than he was telling."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Carrie as they climbed into the car.

"We need to come back here later when no one else is here and have another look at that office," said Jace, "Something about it is off and right now I can't quite put my finger on it."

As they drove back toward home, neither one of them knew that as soon as they had left Avano's office he had made a phone call.

When they got back to the penthouse they changed out of there disguises and ordered Chinese. Jace sat down on the sofa put his feet up on the coffee table and began to rack his brain trying to figure out what if was about Avano's office that was bugging him. Carrie elected to take a shower.

A few minutes later, just as the shower shut off, there was a knock at the door. Jace looked at his watch.

"Hmm," he said, "that was fast." He stood up and walk toward the door. He was his hand was half way to the doorknob. When Carrie emerged from the Bathroom.

"Jace," she hissed, "Don't open that door, it's not the delivery boy!" No sooner had these words left her mouth that Jace heard the pump action of a shotgun through the door. He dove out of the way just as a shotgun blast blew the doorknob off the door. Carrie hit the deck at the same time.

Four Masked men came crashing through the door. Two were armed with shotguns and two were armed with semi-automatic pistols. Carrie and Jace jump to their feet. The two with the shotguns leveled them at Carrie. Carrie's eyes dilated, and the shotguns jumped violently out of the man's hands and swung around 180 degrees and blew the two would be attackers away. Jace raised his hands and the pistols flew out of the hands of the other two, and then they were blown backwards against the wall

This and having witnessed what happened to their friends drained the fight out of them. They scrambled to their feet, turned, and tried to run, but they didn't get more than a few steps before they had the sensation of being grabbed around the throat and lifted off the ground. The grip that had them swung them around in mid-air and brought them face to face with Jace and Carrie standing there with their hands raised in Darth Vader force grip style.

"Now," said Jace, as the shotguns hovered in front of there faces, "if you two don't want to end up splattered all over the wall like your friends, you'd better tell us who hired you."

"What are you people?!" Cried one of the men clearly terrified.

"Who we are and what we are doesn't matter," growled Carrie, the shotguns chambered shells "What matters is what we're going to do to you if you don't talk!"

"I d-don't know_" he started

"Shut up, Eddie!" snapped the other guy.

"I will not shut up," the first guy retorted, "Listen, Jake, you may want a shotgun facial, but I don't!"

"We don't know who hired us," he continued, "We get our instructions from a post office box, so we never no who hires us for the jobs!"

Carrie turned to Jace,

"What do you think?" she asked

"I believe them," said Jace, "Avano strikes me as the type who is too smart to get his own hands dirty unless it's absolutely necessary."

With a flick of their wrists, Jace and Carrie bounced the two men off the wall hard enough to crack the plaster. Then they dropped the unconscious men to the floor.

########

Detective Steve Jackson stood with Jace and Carrie as the Forensics guys made their way outside. The coroner's van pulled away with the two dead bodies in it. And he turned to Jace. Jace and Carrie were standing there with chopsticks in their hands eating from cartons of Chinese noodles.

"Well," he said, "First of all thanks, those four assassins are a team of hitmen for hire known as the Gulf Shore Boys. We've been trying to nail them for years. Whatever you did to those two worked because Little Eddie was singing like Pavarotti's canary. Those to are going away for a long time."

"And second?" asked Jace,

"Second, you'll need to come down to the station in the morning and sign a statement, but that's just a formality as far as I know you two are in the clear, self-defense pure and simple."

"Great," said Carrie

"Oh, and one other thing," said Jace, "keep those two on ice until you hear from us if at all possible. If as we suspect Avano had something to do with Sue Snell's disappearance, and hired those guys to kill us for snooping, he's going to get really jumpy and spooked when he finds out they failed."

"Right," said Carrie, "And at the moment he's the only lead we have to what happened to Sue."

"I'll do what I can." Said Steve.

After he had gone Carrie turned to Jace.

"What do we do now?"

"First," said Jace, "We're going to finish our supper, then get a couple hours sleep."

"And then," replied Carrie

"And then we're going to pay a little nocturnal visit to Avano's office."

 _ **TBC…..Please Read and Review**_


	8. Chapter 8

Carrie 8

Chapter 8

It was a little after midnight when Jace was jarred out of a sound sleep by an almost hammering knock on his door. Jace was laying on his back on the couch, Carrie was laying half on the couch and half on his chest. Her head raised from it's resting spot on his collar bone. They had dozed off next to each other on the couch and had ended up in this position when they sagged over in their sleep and shifted around.

"What is it?!" she said rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She looked at the position they were in and jumped off of him when she realized where she was.

"Probably my parents," he said, "Tonight was there date night and they went to Orlando to eat at their favorite restaurant. I left a message on dad's phone about the little bit of excitement that we had here earlier tonight right before we laid down."

"And they're just now getting here to check on you?" asked Carrie.

Jace chuckled as he and Carrie sat up.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," said Jace, "Mom doesn't like to risk getting interrupted when there on their weekly date so she makes him turn his phone off while they're in the restaurant. So, he probably didn't get my message until they got home."

Jace stood up and walked over to the door, and made to pull aside the chair he was using to barricade the door.

"Wait Jace," said Carrie, "I can't meet your parents, I'm a mess! Besides, what will they say when they find a girl in your apartment."

"First you may be a mess but you're a beautiful mess," said Jace, "And as for having a girl in my apartment, my mom after me to meet a nice girl and 'settle down' ever since I moved out, so she'll be thrilled that I have a girl in here."

Jace turned and pulled the chair away the door opened and his parents came rushing in. Carrie Saw they were both on the tall side and Dark haired, Blue-eyed, and ruddy faced like their son his Mother a tall woman with dark hair like Jace wrapped her arms around her son. Jace hugged her bag.

"I'm fine, mom," he said soothingly. His dad even looked worried this time.

"Son," he said, "I know that you can take care of yourself, and I don't like to pry, but what have you gotten yourself into this time?!"

"Well, Dad," he said, "To make a long story short, it's basically a missing person's case that is mixed up with a scam that involves more than enough money to kill for."

"I know your Father and I can't expect you to back off, so please be careful!" said his mother. Jace was about to reply when she caught sight of Carrie who was sitting nervously on the couch.

"Elias," said Jace's Mother, "Do you see what I see?! It appears to be a girl!"

Jace's father turned and caught sight of Carrie. He walked over to her and appeared to study her for a minute. At first Carrie was a little uneasy but then she suddenly noticed that though he was trying to look serious his eyes were twinkling.

"Yep," he said turned back to his wife, "That's a girl all right." Carrie Blushed and suppressed a giggle.

"All right knock it off you two," said Jace rolling his eyes, "Mom, Dad, this is my new partner Carrie White. Carrie these are my Parents Elias and Amy Pierson.

"Carrie White," said his mother her eyes widening! Jace nodded to his mother's thoughts.

"Yes, Mother she's that Carrie White, the one from the Black Prom," he said, "But there's a lot about it that you don't know. If you sit down a minute I'll tell you what you don't know."

Jace's parents sat down on the couch next to Carrie and listened as she and Jace gave them a quick version of the whole story.

Jace's Mother turned and to Carrie's surprised pulled her into a hug.

"Carrie," she said, "I believe that things happen for a reason, and if you found your way to my son it was because you were meant to."

"Agreed," said Elias, "From what you've told is it sounds Like our son is the very man that you need, so Welcome to the family."

"Hey," said Jace with a chuckle, "Don't rush things we're not even in an official relationship."

"Yet," said Carrie Jace turned toward and quirked his left eyebrow. She blushed again

Carrie was so happy that she felt like she might cry. Jace thanked his parents for their understanding and acceptance of Carrie.

After they left Jace and Carrie decided it was time to clock back in. they took the elevator back down to the garage and jumped into Jace's Camaro. A little over 30 minutes later they pulled into the parking lot Avano's building.

Jace parked the car back in the shadows where it was almost invisible in the night. He and Carrie also kept to the shadows as they approached the building. When they got to the door Carrie's eyes dilated and there was a scrubbing sound followed by a click as the door unlocked. Carrie started to reach for the door handled when suddenly Jace caught her hand and stopped her.

"hold it," he said and nodded toward something in the lobby, Carrie peered through the window glass and spotted what Jace had. It was the control pad for a security system.

"If we don't enter the right security code within a certain amount of time after opening this door the alarm will go off." He said

"Well what do we do now?" asked Carrie

"I've got an idea," said Jace, "We need to get up to the roof. That's where they generally stash the power box for these private security systems. And if we can get to it we can disable it."

Carrie nodded in understanding and she and Jace walked around to the side of the building. After they checked to make sure no one was around to see them, Carrie's eyes dilated and Jace's irises began to glow white. They levitated off the ground and floated up to the top of the building.

After their feet touched the roof, it didn't take them long to find what they were looking for especially since the security company's logo was plastered all over the box. Opening the box Jace use a wire cap to lock two of the largest wires together.

"There," he said when had finished, "no opening the door will have no affect because now the alarm circuit can't be broken."

The two telekinetic detectives levitated back down and opened the door. Slipping inside they took the elevator up to the third floor where Avano's office was located. When they got there Carrie made quick work of the lock on the door.

They walked into the office and pulled out their flashlights and began looking around. Jace paused in the middle of the room as Carrie walked over and began to go through the file cabinets.

"There is something off about this room," he said half to himself, "Something is different and I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Hey," said Carrie, "here's something you can put your finger on!" Jace walked over to where Carrie was standing and looked at what she had pulled out of a previously locked file cabinet. It was a file but more specifically it was a dossier on Josie the girl they had spoken to earlier that night.

"Aha, "said Jace, "This is how Avano manages to tell his followers all about themselves, there is nothing supernatural about it. As I suspected he's investigated all of them ahead of time and has files on each of them."

Jace and Carrie started going through the rest of the file cabinet. They found, as they expected, detailed files on every one of his followers and they were all from well to do and fairly well to do families. He's methodically brainwashing to hand over control of their finances to him.

"Well were found what we suspected about Avano was true," said Carrie sounding a little discouraged, "So we really don't know anything new." As soon as these words were out of her mouth, Jace stopped dead in his tracks!

"That's it!" he exclaimed, "That's what's different in this office!"

"What?" Carrie Asked

"That window over there behind Avano's desk," Replied Jace, "the reason that it doesn't looked the same as the others is because it's not original like the other two, it's brand new!"

"you think that's the window that we saw in the telepathic flash we got from Avano!?" cried Carried

"Exactly," said Jace, "And I believe that the shadowy form we saw going through it was Sue!"

 _ **TBC…stay tuned for the next chapter please**_ _ **Read**_ _ **and**_ _ **Review**_


	9. Chapter 9

Carrie 9

Chapter 9

Carrie turned and walked over to the window. As soon as she touched the glass he could hear the same heartbeat that she and Jace had heard in Sue's bedroom when she touched the poster. However, the Rhythm was slower than it had been.

"Jace," she said, "I still hear the heartbeat, Sue's still alive, but we have to hurry she's getting weaker!"

Jace took out his phone and photographed as many of the files as he could, then he and Carrie hurried outside the building.

"Hey, Carrie," he said as they emerged, "I noticed that Sue's file is missing!"

"Are you surprised?" asked Carried

"No," Jace replied

They rounded the corner of the building and found themselves standing in the parking lot looking up at Avano's window.

"How did she survive that fall?!" said Carrie

Jace glanced around and spotted something in nearby dumpster. Walking a little closer he recognized what was in it and sticking out of it.

"That's how she survived," he said pointing to the dumpster. Walking closer, Carrie saw what he meant, in the dumpster were the remnants of two heavy duty awnings.

"I'll just bet that if we check we'll find that those Awnings were underneath the window that sue was thrown through," said Jace, "But she hit those awnings and even thought they broke out from under her they slowed her fall enough to keep her alive."

"Then she must have been somehow able to pull herself to her feet and get away," said Carrie

"Right," said Jace, "But the Question which way did she go? It rained the same night that she disappeared so their probably no blood trail."

Carrie walked up to the dumpster and laid her hand on the material of the awning. She immediately saw a flash of the same form. This time she could make out blonde haired girl pulling herself up and half staggering and half dragging her left leg as she made her escape toward the nearby woods, the rain destroying the blood trail behind her. Carrie could also tell that she had something in her hand before the flash ended.

Carrie came out of the vision.

"What did you see?" asked Jace

"You were right about everything?" said Carrie, "Sue managed to survive because of the awning." She turned and pointed toward a Stand of trees on the other side of the road.

"She went that way,"

Carrie and Jace turned ran toward the stand of trees. After they got across the road they the eased their way into the woods their flashlight beams going this way and that. They went about fifty yards back into the woods when they came to a hidden sandy ravine. As soon as they peered down into the ravine they saw a figure laying motionless at the bottom of the ravine near a blackberry bush.

Jace and Carrie took one look at each other and practically dove into the ravine. When they got to her they found that she was unconscious.

Jace noticed to berry juice stains among the bloodstains on her shirt.

"Looks like she was eating blackberries to try and stay alive before she lost consciousness," he said.

"Yeah," said Carrie holding her hand above Sue's abdomen, "I sense some internal bleeding, we've got to get her to a hospital fast!"

Activating their telekinesis, they levitated Sue and themselves up into the air and back to Jace's car. After they laid her in the backseat Carrie climbed in with her and held her steady while Jace drove as fast as he could to the nearest hospital.

When Eleanor Snell received the call that Sue had been found alive. She broken down sobbing. Jace waited until she calmed down and told her to come to Atwater General Hospital. When she got there Sue was in surgery to repair the internal injuries she had suffered. The surgery was complete success but the doctor said that it was close of Jace and Carrie hadn't found Sue and gotten her to the hospital when they did she probably wouldn't have made it.

A few hours later back in her room Sue opened her eyes. The first person she saw was her mother.

"Mom!" she cried. Eleanor gently embraced her daughter. Sue hugged her back as much as she was able to with all the wires and IV's hooked to her.

"Mom," she said, "How did you find me?"

"I didn't," she said, "I hired a couple of private Investigators, they found you and brought you here."

"I'd love to meet them," said Sue

"You already know one of them." Said a familiar voice.

Sue's head jerked around at the sound of that voice.

"Carrie!" she gasped

"Hello Sue," said Carrie shyly

"You found me?!" Sue asked

"Me and My Partner Jace Pierson," she replied motioning to Jace

"Hi," said Jace

"Hi," said Sue, "And Thanks I owe both of you my life."

"Forget it," said Jace, "I'm just glad it ended this way."

"Jace," said Carrie, "I know that we were only hired to find Sue and we've done that, but we can't just stand by and let Avano get away with this. He's scamming people out of there money and he tried to kill Sue!"

"Don't worry Carrie," said Jace, "There is no way that we're going to let Avano get away. Speaking of which."

He turned to Sue.

"I'm Guessing that Avano tried to kill you because you found those dossiers in his office and realized that he was a fraud."

Sue nodded,

"I felt like such a fool when I got home after I found those files," she said, "That's when I slashed the poster of Avano in my room. I was still so angry at him and myself for being so gullible that I did very foolish thing after the next meeting I confronted him with my own dossier and that's when he attacked me and threw me out the window. I could barely believe I was still alive when I hit the ground but I knew had had to get away. So, I forced myself to my feet through the pain and a made for the trees the back weather that moved in covered my escape. Then my adrenaline wore off, the pain hit and I couldn't go any further. You know the rest."

Just as Sue finished, Detective Jackson walked in.

"Hi, Steve," said Jace shaking hands, he turned to the Snells and explained.

"Mrs. Snell," he said, "I called the police before you got here, I strongly suspect that Avano knows that Sue is still alive somewhere and is still looking for her. So, Detective Jackson is going to provide police protection until we can nail Avano."

"Well you're going to have to hurry," said Detective Jackson, "I just heard before I left the office, that those two Gulf Shore boys that we had locked up were just bailed out by their lawyer and a buddy of mine at the courthouse tells me that the lawyer that got them out works for Avano too!"

 **TBC…** _**Next the Grand Finale! Please Read and Review!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Carrie 10

Chapter 10

It was about 4:30 in the morning. And two sinister shadows could be seen scaling the side of the hospital building. They were on their way to Sue Snell's room on the 10th floor. Finally, after several minutes of almost noiseless climbing they reached the window.

"Really nice of the window cleaners to leave these cables here for us to use," he snickered

"Oh, stopped cackling," hissed his friend, "We've got a job to do!"

Using a glass cutter, he cut a hole in the window big enough from him to reach through an unlock it. Sliding the window open, they climbed inside and sneered at the form lying under the covers in the bed.

"This is the easiest hundred grand we ever made," sneered the Cackler from earlier. He pulled out his silenced pistol and aimed it at the prone figure. As he squeezed the trigger they were suddenly lifted off the ground and thrown against the wall.

The prone figure sat up revealing herself to be Carrie lying in Sue's bed. Her eyes were dilated. The door opened and Jace stood silhouetted in the light from the hallway.

"Remember us," said Carrie threateningly. The two would-be Assassins went wide-eyed. They aimed their guns at Carrie but the guns twisted sideways sharply. There was a sickening crack as the bones in their trigger fingers snapped.

The two men cried out in pain and tried to flee, but just as they jumped up the glass topped table in the over by the chairs in the room shattered long thin glass shards shot across the room the room and pinned impaled the Assassins shoulders and pinned them to the wall!

As the men groaned and grunted in pain. Their guns floated up in front of their faces and rounds chambered.

"Now," said Jace walking toward them, "We can charge both of you with another count of attempted Murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and don't try that we don't know who hired us jazz because we won't by it a second time!"

"What do you want," said the first man through gritted teeth and the pain he was in.

"What I want is for you guys to be smart," said Jace, "With the charges we have against you, you're looking at 20 years, maybe more. However, if you turn states evidence against Avano maybe the judge will go easier on you."

"Think it over," said Carrie cocking her head to make herself look crazier

"All right, all right," they said, "Almost in unison, we'll do it!"

The glass shards pulled out of the wall and the men dropped to the ground. Then Jace called the cops in, and they took the two would-be killers away, first to the doctor then to jail.

Carrie climbed out of the bed and they walked down the hall to the room they had moved Sue to an hour earlier.

"How'd it gone," said Sue she, with the help of her mom had cleaned herself up and even styled her hair into its usual pony tail, "well," she pressed, "did it go alright I heard trouble!"

"Nothing we couldn't handle," said Carrie with a grin

"Yeah," said Jace, "Gulf shore Boys are finished! Now we go after Avano!"

Jace looked and Sue and then at Carrie. He smiled as an idea began to form in his mind.

"Carrie," he said, "Can you copy Sue's hairstyle?"

"I think so," she said, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to make a Mask from a mold of Sue's face," he said, "By the meeting tonight Avano is going to think that Sue's dead and that he's home free. We're going to make him think that Sue has come back from the dead to get him!

Carrie began to grin wickedly.

########

Avano was in rare form at his meeting that night. He was feeling like the cock of the walk sure that he was free of any threat of exposure now that Sue Snell was dead. Just as he was in the middle of a flashy Illusion the doors of the Auditorium began to rattle. Everyone looked around wondering what was happening! Suddenly the doors were thrown open and what appeared to be an undead, Pale as a ghost Sue Snell came walking slowly into the room. Her blouse was torn and bloody

"I have come back from the nether world to get you Avano," said the 'undead' girl, in an Eerie voice, "You have angered the spirit world with your fraud and they won't let me cross the river Styx without you!"

The normally cocky Avano was now shaking, pale and terrified!

"No, No," he said, trying to run, "You're Dead I had them kill you!" he looked and his henchmen, "Get her stop her!" the men pulled out guns and started shooting. Avano's followers scattered to the corners of the room. The bullets were vaporizing before the they reached her. Courtesy of Jace who had climbed in the skylight and was hiding in the shadows of the rafters. The chairs, tables, and other things in the room began to fly around and knock into the guards until they were all out of action.

"You can't kill me, Avano," she said, "I'm already dead!" Avano's remain two guards were blown backwards.

Avano ran for the doors to the auditorium. He pushed and banged on them but he couldn't get them opened. His followers slowly began to forget their fear of the apparent undead girl in their midst and wonder about the cowardly reaction of their once fearless leader.

Avano was pulled backwards to land in the middle of the room.

"If you want a chance to save your soul before it's too late Avano, speak the truth," She said

"W-What T-truth?" stammered the terrified con artist.

"Don't Play Games!" she thundered, Avano's throne shattered and the jagged fragments began slamming into the floor making a trail that was edging closer to him "You're a fraud! You're a Con Artist! And you're a would-be Murderer!"

Each sentence was emphasized by a shard of the throne jamming into the floor coming closer and closer. Suddenly the shards that were made of wood burst into flames!

"I'm a Fraud, I'm and Fraud, and everything else," he whimpered Covering his head, "I couldn't let you tell anyone about the dossiers that I had on all my followers. I couldn't let them find out that I was milking them out of their money until I got everything I could from them! And I had try and get rid of those private eyes but the gulf shore boys failed!"

Suddenly everything stopped.

"Steve, did you get all that?!" said another voice that belonged to Jace

"Loud and Clear." Came the reply. The doors opened and the cops came in and arrested the still whimpering Avano. As they were cuffing him. Carrie reached up and pulled off the latex mask she was wearing.

"What?!" screeched Avano, "she's one of those private detectives!"

"You're not the only the only one who can Con people," said Carrie

"I guess it's true what they say," said Jace, hopping down from the rafters, "the easiest person to con is a con artist."

"Well he won't be Conning anyone for a long time where he's going," snapped Steve.

#######

An hour later Jace and Carrie Sat in Jace's office as they dictated their first report together.

 _The Snell Case has been Resolved in the Very best way possible, Sue Snell was found alive. In another 24 hours she'll be out of the hospital and back with her family and daughter. Carrie White my brand-new partner is now a god mother! And Avano his cronies and what's left of the Gulf shore boys are going away for a long, long, time for the Con game and the attempted Murders of Sue, Carrie and Myself._

Jace finished the report and took his headset off. He and Carrie walked out on the penthouse balcony. It was a beautiful evening with a full moon in the sky. Carrie was Silent for several seconds before she spoke.

"Jace," she said, "I've made a decision."

"and that is?" asked Jace

"I've decided on a vow. I vow that I am going to help someone for every innocent person who died at the black prom, I can't undo what happened their but maybe in doing this I can in someway atone for the innocent lives I ended that night!"

Carrie looked up at Jace a little apprehensively,

"Will you help me?" she asked in a small voice.

Jace smiled, lifted her delicate hand in his and kissed the back of it lightly.

"I'll be with you every step of the way!" he replied

The Moon that night looked down on two embracing figures. One a telekinetic private eye who had found the perfect partner and the other, a girl with a painful past who had found her path to Atonement.

 _ **The End**_

 _ **For now….**_

 _ **Well there it is. the grand finale of my story, thanks to everyone for the reviews and the follows and favs.**_

 _ **Should I write a sequel? Let me know.**_


End file.
